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The Hatching

The day had finally come and boy were we excited! Get ready for the most chaotic video in the history of Cultivating Dust…

We started hearing peeping coming from the eggs on Friday, and this video was taken the next day on Saturday. By late Friday night, that egg had started to pip, so we knew that hatching would be soon! The first chick, Tootsie, hatched in the middle of the night sometime.The fluffy chick in the video, we found under mama hen when we woke up at dawn on Saturday morning.

What?!? What's that we hear under Coco? And why is there broken egg-shell in the nest?!?

1. Peeping- you begin to hear peeping from inside the egg, and may see or feel the egg shimmy.

2. Pipping- this is where the chick pecks a tiny hole in the egg from the inside. This is the point of no return for the hatch similar to when a woman’s water breaks. Mama hen may help a bit and make the hole a bit bigger.

3. Pecking- the chick slowly spins its body inside the egg and pecks all around the circumference of the egg. This is exhausting to the chick, but it is very important that we don’t help them. This physical exertion is vital to their future survival.

4. Popping- after the chick has pecked through the entire egg, it pushes its way out until the egg pops open and the chick falls out!

5.) Pooping- once the chick has dried and become fluffy, it will start to become active, eat, drink and eventually poop. This is the final step to knowing that “all systems are go” for the new hatchling!

*The 5 “P’s” of Hatching were taught to us by our friend Jean who has taught us so much, and also gave us these fertile eggs that Coco sat on to hatch! Thanks Jean.